IPA

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Korean language pronunciations.

Korean consonants IPA Hangul RR trans. English equivalent Notes b ㅂ b ball between voiced sounds ɕ ㅅ s she before [i] or [j] d ㄷ d doll between voiced sounds dʑ ㅈ j gee between voiced sounds ɡ ㄱ g gall between voiced sounds h ㅎ h hall j ㅖ, ㅒ, ㅑ, ㅛ, ㅠ, ㅕ y y’all Spelled by doubling the dot on the vowel. k ㄱ, ㅋ g, k — ㅋ is [k] at the end of a syllable. k͈ ㄲ kk skin tense [k] kʰ ㅋ, ㅎㄱ k call l ㄹ, ㄴ l call ㄹ is [l] at the end of a syllable. ㄹㄴ and ㄴㄹ may be [ll] or [lː]. Across word boundaries though, ㄴ-ㄹ is [nn] or [nː]. m ㅁ, ㅂ m mall ㅂ is [m] before [n] or [m]. n ㄴ, ㄹ, ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅈ n not ㄹ may be [n] at the start of a word. ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅈ are [n] before [n] or [m]. ŋ ㅇ, ㄱ ng king ㅇ is only [ŋ] at the end of a syllable. ㄱ is [ŋ] before [n], [m] or [ɾ] p ㅂ, ㅍ b, p — ㅍ is [p] at the end of a syllable. p͈ ㅃ pp span tense [p] pʰ ㅍ, ㅎㅂ p pall ɾ ㄹ r — A flap, like Scots r or American ladder, between vowels s ㅅ s — [s] with almost no sibilance s͈ ㅆ ss Saul tense [s] t ㄷ ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ d t — All are [t] and RR t at the end of a syllable. The only things to end in ㅎ are the name of the ㅎ jamo, which is called "히읗," and certain verb stems like 좋 from 좋다. Only relevant when teaching grammar or linguistics. t͈ ㄸ tt stall tense [t] tʰ ㅌ, ㅎㄷ t tall tɕ ㅈ j each tɕ͈ ㅉ jj — tense [tɕ] tɕʰ ㅊ, ㅎㅈ ch chin w ㅜ, ㅗ w wall spelled ㅜ before [ʌ], [e], [i]; ㅗ before [ɛ], [e],* [a] *ㅚ is pronounced [we] by most, but as the rounded ö vowel [ø] by some older speakers.

Korean vowels IPA Hangul RR trans. Notes a ㅏ a spa aː e ㅔ e Similar to the beginning of the diphthong in main eː ɛ ㅐ ae met; similar to e for young speakers. ɛː i ㅣ i mean iː o ㅗ o Spanish o or French eau oː u ㅜ u moon uː ʌ, ɔ ㅓ eo young (these are pronounced [ɔ], as in north, in Seoul and North Korea) əː, ɔː ɯ, ɨ ㅡ eu Separate sound in Standard Korean; similar to eo for many dialects. ɯː Korean diphthongs IPA Hangul RR trans. Notes ɯi ㅢ ui ø, we ㅚ oe ㅚ is pronounced [we] by most, but as the rounded ö vowel [ø] by some older speakers. Sounds not written in hangul IPA Explanation ː Long vowel. Long [ʌ] is [əː]. Young speakers in Seoul do not use length consistently, if at all.  ́ High tone, on any one syllable or the first two; used outside Seoul.